Versailles Gardens

Rating:
Summary: Great Pictures.... but kinda small
Review: I'm going to be honest - I bought this book to more-or-less "complete" my collection of books on Versailles. The photos in this book are okay (any tourist could have done it, and the first two photos were shot through window to the interior so you can actually see a reflection the photographer). The majority of them have been shot from places most tourists wouldn't normally think to take a picture, which is good, but they're very small because the book itself is small, so you're not going to get the feeling that you're actually standing in the gardens at Versailles. I got the hardcover edition and it is really thick for such a small book, so it's a bit hard to keep open (the paperback MIGHT be slightly easier to use). Also, there is virtually no text accompanying the photos other than the tiny captions telling when and where the photo was taken, and a bit of text in the very back of the book - as an appendix. I don't know about you, but I like to know something about what it is I'm looking at. So, if you're looking for a book with detailed discriptions of the gardens, and intense, true-to-life photos that will make you feel as if you're really there, then this is NOT the book for you. If you only want a book with decent photos and don't mind a little struggling to keep it open, then you'll probably like it. I'm not planning to return it, but I don't find myself running back to it time, and time again. Get the paperback - it's cheaper!

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking pictures!
Review: The pictures in this book, by photographer Jean-Babtiste Leroux, are breathtaking. Somewhat in the style of the painter Claude Monet, many of the pictures are taken of various fountains, walk-ways, and other areas of the gardens at different times of day and in different types of weather. Another reviewer said that one can see the shadow of the photographer in some of these pictures, but they are actually reflections of nearby statues and other objects in the gardens. I only gave this book four stars because it is hard to keep open and I wish that the pictures were bigger. Although, the smaller size does allow the book to be more affordable.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking pictures!
Review: The pictures in this book, by photographer Jean-Babtiste Leroux, are breathtaking. Somewhat in the style of the painter Claude Monet, many of the pictures are taken of various fountains, walk-ways, and other areas of the gardens at different times of day and in different types of weather. Another reviewer said that one can see the shadow of the photographer in some of these pictures, but they are actually reflections of nearby statues and other objects in the gardens. I only gave this book four stars because it is hard to keep open and I wish that the pictures were bigger. Although, the smaller size does allow the book to be more affordable.